The ‘60’s cult leader, Charles Manson died on Sunday, November 19, after serving almost nine terms in the system. Manson, 83, was responsible for the deaths of nine people in the 1960s.

The wave of terror, which hit the 1960s, was ultimately whittled down to the antics of one Charles Manson and a cult he founded. The cult was dubbed the “Manson Family” and consisted of a mix of people, most of whom were extremely young and belonged to an urban middle-class background. Manson was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty in 1969.

However, after California put aside the death penalty in 1972, his sentence was converted to life in prison. As such, Manson has served nine life terms in California prisons, and has been denied parole at least 12 times.

Manson has become something of a dark cult icon, with many claiming allegiance with his twisted ways. His “Family,” which supported his crimes were also sentenced to life in prison, none of them have been granted parole. His “Family” however did not seem to mind, like Manson, most of them never showed remorse for their crimes, which included brutally killing Sharon Tate, spouse of director Roman Polanski when she was heavily pregnant.

In a statement made in 2015, former Manson prosecutor, Vincent Bugliosi told CNN that Manson was “the king, the Maharaja” of his “Family”. He added that “the members of the family were slavishly obedient to him”.

Thus, Manson ordered the killings of nine people, all of which were carried out dutifully by his “Family”. However, while Manson certainly orchestrated the proceedings, he did not personally participate in a single killing.

Over the past few years, Manson has reportedly been in poor health, and has made multiple visits to prison hospitals.

Reports from the prison psychologist also state that Manson was diagnosed with schizophrenia during his tenure in the prison.

Thus, his sudden deterioration last week and subsequent death is unlikely to surprise many.

Patricia Kellogg is a journalist who has held many editorial roles at numerous high-profile publishers – both offline as well as online. She has an experience of more than 10 years in editing and proofreading articles across a range of sectors. She is also well versed with handling academic journal articles, theses, technical manuals, press releases, reports, feature articles, web site content, promotional material, policy papers, and grant proposals.